This gene encodes a G-protein coupled receptor that binds neuropeptides of the corticotropin releasing hormone family that are major regulators of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal pathway. The encoded protein is essential for the activation of signal transduction pathways that regulate diverse physiological processes including stress, reproduction, immune response and obesity. Alternative splicing results in multiple transcript variants one of which is a non-coding read-through transcript with the neighboring gene MGC57346.